The October meeting of the Sawyer County Comprehensive Planning Committee started to get down to the nuts and bolts of planning. They started to hear from citizens.

The Sawyer County Record reported on the meeting...

Access to affordable, adequate housing remains a big problem in Sawyer County, according to guest speakers who addressed the Sawyer County Comprehensive Plan Development Committee at its Oct. 22 meeting...

“We continue to have this perplexing problem of (a lack of) good, clean, safe, affordable, accessible single-family homes and apartments for rent in Sawyer County,” Gary Nathan added.

What the Comprehensive Planning Committee decides to recommend regarding affordable housing will be interesting to follow. Every planning committee of any kind I have attended in Sawyer County over the years identifies affordable housing as a top priority.

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Barron County held an open house for new FEMA flood maps in September. The 90 day review period is now in process. County officials are very happy with the revised maps.

The how and why of these new maps can be found in this article of the Chetek Alert.

The bottom line of these new maps is ...

"Prior to the new maps, 1,370 structures in Barron County were identified as being in the floodplain of a body of water. With the new maps, that number has dropped to 167 structures.

What does that mean for property owners in Barron County? For one thing, says County Administrator Duane Hebert, owners of property that has been removed from the floodplain will no longer have to carry flood insurance.

According to floodsmart.gov, federal flood insurance premiums on a $100,000 house total $1,143 annually.

"It's a good use of taxpayer dollars," says Hebert. "But there's more to it than just saving on flood insurance premiums."

Hebert adds that the mapping information is used by county law enforcement and the emergency management department to determine risks and possible damage to property."

There are multiple uses for this information; there's no doubt we'll get our money's worth."

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Bayfield County is looking at wind power. Seriously, looking at wind power.

The Ashland Daily Press reports ...

Bayfield County could reasonably consider installing a commercial scale wind turbine on one of two possible locations in the county, says a preliminary assessment from a consulting professional engineer.

The report, released to members of the Bayfield County Board Executive Committee Thursday said a large-scale wind turbine would be "reasonably productive” if built on a Mount Ashwabay site or another Bayfield hills site west of the City of Bayfield.

This does not make any wind proposal a done deal as there would be massive political input from both sides. In addition to county interest ...

County administrator Mark Abeles-Allison noted that on Madeline Island, the Town of La Pointe is on the verge of beginning its own detailed wind studies with a goal of becoming energy-independent.